A couple of valiant comebacks by the Los Angeles Lakers (9-9) weren't enough to take down the Portland Trail Blazers (14-3) on Sunday night in a hard fought 114-108 loss.

Despite trailing the game 19-2 at the 5:56 mark of the first quarter, the Lakers managed to slowly chip away at the lead and only trail by three points at halftime, 53-50.

After being outscored 41-24 in the third quarter, Los Angeles looked to their bench to bring them back late. With 2:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Lakers were only down by one point, 101-100.

A couple of key baskets and defensive stops by Damian Lillard (26 points and nine assists) and Wesley Matthews (17 points and three assists) sealed the deal for good.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and nine rebounds for Portland, while Nicolas Batum teetered on the brink of a triple-double, finishing with nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

Xavier Henry came off pine for Los Angeles to score a career-high 27 points on an efficient 9-of-12 shooting.

Nick Young, who had a couple of highlight-reel dunks in the first half, had 17 points for the Lakers, while Jodie Meeks chipped in 20 points and three assists.

Late in the first quarter, backup point guard Jordan Farmar left the game with an aggravated hamstring. Los Angeles is off until December 6 against the Sacramento Kings, so he should have enough time to heal up and be ready to play by then.

This victory for the Trail Blazers snaps an 11-game losing streak at Staples Center against Los Angeles.